Saturday Nine: Ballad of Gilligan's Island (1964)

This week's Saturday Nine:


(Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.)

1. This is about the fateful cruise of the S.S. Minnow. If you had a boat, what would christen it? In Omnia Paratus, which means "ready for anything" in Latin. It's the motto of the Life and Death Brigade in Gilmore Girls, and I've always loved the spirit of the phrase. And I think it applies really well to a boat.
   
   
2. "No phone! No lights! No motorcar! Not a single luxury!" To Sam, those sound more like everyday essentials than luxuries. If you were shipwrecked with the gang, what standard amenity would you miss the most? Electricity. I am not a "be one with nature" kind of person. I need electricity.
   
   
3. The uncharted isle was in the Pacific, near Hawaii. Have you ever been to our 50th state? No, but I actually really want to visit Hawaii one day. I'm not a beach person, but it's such a beautiful place with rich culture, and there's so much to see and explore and eat (!). Definitely on my bucket list.
   
   
4. Natalie Schafer, who played Mrs. Howell, refused to divulge her age. Are you honest about how old you are? Or do you fudge it? I'm honest about it. I don't need to lie about my age. Most people think I'm way younger than I really am, anyway.
   
   
5. Gilligan's Island featured many dream sequences. (Like the one where Gilligan dozes off and dreams that he's Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk.) Have you had any vivid dreams lately? I had one dream recently that was particularly vivid (so much so that I still remember it quite clearly even three weeks later), where I was on a beach surrounded by huge cliffs and I was surfing (weird already because I have never attempted surfing in my life) these insanely high waves (I'm talking waves the size of skyscrapers) and there were massive whales swimming underneath the water and when I got to shore, I was waiting with a crowd of people to greet a big submarine full of aliens that looked like humans (but in the dream, I know they're aliens). I woke up before I met any of the aliens, though.
   
   
6. The pilot was filmed in November 1963, in Honolulu. The cast and crew were actually onset when they learned of President Kennedy's assassination. Because on location filming was so expensive, they couldn't afford to take any time off.  Tell us about a time when you had to work, even though your heart and head weren't in it. Usually when I'm sick or have a headache. I just want to be resting at home.
   
   
7. During the show's run, Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) was the clear fan favourite, receiving twice as many love letters as Ginger (Tina Louise). Have you ever written a fan letter (or posted a fan tweet or Facebook post)? Well, from the ages of 4 to 8, I had written many letters to Santa. Come to think of it, though, they weren't so much fan letters as they were wish lists...
   
   
8. Sam chose this week's song because it was going through her head, over and over again! Tell us a song that burrows into your head and stays there. Well, last weekend, *NSYNC's "Tearin' Up My Heart" played at my workplace (we were playing the "Retro" music station at work which features '80s and '90s music), and it was in my head for a week.
   
   
9. Random question: You went to a discount store and got an amazing bargain — a pair of dress shoes for just $4.99. You go to a formal event and someone compliments you on those great shoes and asks where you got them. Do you tell the truth? Yeah, why not? Everyone loves a good bargain.